The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance: Ranking Every Vampire Weekend Song Ever Released
Alex Matthew
“Wisdom’s a gift but you’d trade it for youth,
Age is an honour it’s still not the truth”
— Step (Vampire Weekend, 2013)
Meeting at Columbia University, “Vampire Weekend” successfully mixed their curious preppy charm with upbeat afro-pop influences in order to craft one of the greatest indie bands of the last ten years.
Their complex beats built by Rostam Batmanglij add a sense of beauty to their already tender music and both increase the listener’s enjoyment whilst also depending their appreciation for it. The lyrics, penned by Ezra Koenig, traverse our cultural globe and require a delicate unpacking process in order to uncover deeper meanings and hidden symbolisms which rest in their beating heart. Meanwhile the dual talents of the Chris Baio on bass and Chris Tomson on drums successfully add the finishing flourishes and act as the sticky glue which brings the fours collective talents together in a coherent manner.
Each of their three albums has been met with high critical praise, a collective love from fans and all the while successfully improved their already impressive quality with each LP shaped step. In 2013 the group even came home with a grammy for Modern Vampires of the City in the category of Best Alternative Music Album, beating out other superb artists such as Australian pysch-rockers Tame Impala and industrial rock outfit Nine Inch Nails.
Later this year Vampire Weekend will release their fourth record which recorded under the working title “Mitsubishi Macchiato”. It will be the first of their music without Batmanglij fully on board who departed the band in 2016 in order to pursue other creative projects including a 2017 solo album.
Below I examine each of their thirty nine tracks, coming from all three full length LPs as well as their limited few sporadic single releases.
39. California English Pt. 2
38. Arrows
37. One (Blake’s Got A New Face)
36. Bryn
35. Ottoman
34. I Stand Corrected
33. Ladies Of Cambridge
32. Taxi Cab
31. Run
30. Jonathan Low
29. Giant
28. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
27. Mansard Roof
26. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance
25. Worship You
24. M79
23. Cousins
22. Finger Back
21. Hudson
20. Don’t Lie
19. White Sky
18. Holiday
17. Young Lion
16. Campus
15. Diplomat’s Son
14. Giving Up The Gun
13. Everlasting Arms
12. Obvious Bicycle
11. Oxford Comma
10. California English
9. Unbelievers
8. Diane Young
7. Horchata
6. I Think Ur A Contra
5. A-Punk
4. Ya Hey
3. Hannah Hunt
2. Walcott
Step
